Endearingly Chaotic Lilo & Stitch Warmly Tugs at the Heartstrings
It’s not a high bar, but as far as the semi-recent string of Disney live-action remakes of their animated favorites are concerned (starting for better and for worse — much, much worse — with Tim Burton’s 2010 monster box office smash Alice in Wonderland), I’m inclined to say I find the studio’s new take on Lilo & Stitch to be one of their better efforts. While not rising to the heights of Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella or David Lowery’s Pete’s Dragon, this is still a surprisingly strong adaptation, one with far more highs than there are lows. It’s pretty good.
Not to say things are perfect. While director Dean Fleischer Camp and screenwriters Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes should be commended for their reworking of the source material, their take still pales when compared to its edgy, wildly ambitious 2002 precursor. The animated film’s aggressiveness in its tackling of its occasionally uncomfortable subject matter, including young children dealing with the tragic death of their parents, mental health, wealth inequality, and several additional prickly topics, was ahead of its time. It was also fearlessly uncouth and refused to play it safe. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said in this instance.
But where this new version shines is in its depiction of the relationship between six-year-old Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha) and her new pet “dog” Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders). These are two wounded souls who do very bad things, not because either of them is awful, but more because it’s the only way they know to stand out and get others to notice them. It’s how they make an impression.
Of course, Lilo is only a little girl, reeling from the loss of her parents and who doesn’t know how to deal with a beloved sister, Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong), who is suddenly forced to step into the role of “mother” whether she wanted the job or not. Stitch, on the other hand, isn’t a blue furry canine but is instead a wickedly intelligent interstellar annoyance who was grown in a lab for the express purpose of creating mayhem. It’s what he was designed for. More than that, it’s all he knows.
Their interactions, along with the moments of sisterly misunderstanding that deftly meld into heartfelt catharsis between Lilo and Nani, are this story’s foundation. This little girl and her new alien best friend learn from one another in ways neither could have dreamt were possible. Courage, resilience, selflessness, empathy, friendship, love; all of that and more is present. These wounded souls work together to face indescribable hardships, and this familial transformation will prove to be of vital importance by the time events reach their expected, if still emotionally satisfying, conclusion.
As to everything else that happens in this live-action redo? It’s fine, sometimes a little better than that, but there’s not much more to add. It is a little discombobulating that the motion capture effects utilized to bring Stitch to life are beyond incredible, but the same ones used for the other alien characters, notably Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), Jumba (Zach Galifianakis), and the Grand Councilwoman (Hannah Waddingham), seem content to make them look like 3-dimensional doppelgängers of their hand-drawn animated ancestors. The subplot involving CIA investigator Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) also falls annoying flat, and the kindest thing I can say about the character’s third-act metamorphosis is that it’s blandly uncompelling.
Even with all of that being the case, I still found watching Lilo & Stitch to be the cinematic equivalent of a comforting warm hug. Camp never loses sight of what it was that made the original such an endearing delight, and he brings the same deft, effervescent kindness to this material as he did to his Oscar-nominated 2021 stunner Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Additionally, he helps Kealoha deliver one of the best child performances of this or any other year. Her work as Lilo is outstanding, and both she and an almost equally outstanding Kealoha share an endearingly authentic chemistry that’s out of this world.
As for Stitch, he’s wondrous. The effects work is spectacular, and Sanders (co-writer and co-director of the animated effort) returns to voice the character with infectiously gleeful enthusiasm. This creature seamlessly interacts with its human costars, and while the Hawaiian havoc he unleashes is more subdued here than it was back in 2002 (no shock there), it’s still a whole lot of fun watching this hellion do his thing. Stitch is still an unconstrained force of nature who is particularly good and breaking things to pieces, and that’s exactly as it should be.
It is in this breaking where, much like its predecessor, Lilo & Stitch finds its groove and tugs at the heartstrings. Nani, Lilo, and Stitch learn to glue the broken pieces back together and, in doing so, discover that these restorations do not have to look exactly like they did before they were shattered for them to still have meaning, importance, and power. By doing this together they become stronger, the bonds tying them together even more indestructible. They’re not going to leave anyone behind to fend for themselves, and that includes a teary-eyed audience.
Film Rating: 3 (out of 4)
